1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains generally to piping systems and, more particularly, to a converter that can be mounted on the bodies of existing valves for isolating and/or re-routing sections of a system without shutting down the entire system for an extended period of time.
2. Related Art
Piping systems such as sanitary process piping systems commonly used in industries such as the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, dairy, food, and beverage industries typically include components such as tanks, pumps, fermenters, filter assemblies and processing stations which are interconnected by sections of piping and flow control valves.
One type of valve that is widely used in such systems is a weir-diaphragm valve having a body that is connected to the piping and an actuator that is removably mounted on the body. Flow between the sections of piping connected to the body is controlled by a diaphragm that can be moved into and out of engagement with a weir in the valve body by the actuator.
Such systems sometimes need to be shutdown for operations such as cleaning, passivation, maintenance, repair, and/or modification, and having an entire system off line for an extended period of time can be both disruptive and costly. It can also be necessary to clean and/or passivate an entire system when only a portion of the system actually needs it.